Driver in fatal accident had history of seizures, alcohol-related incidents, police say

June 10, 2013 - Family members mourn the death of an elderly woman after she was killed in her garage in a freak car accident on Tutwiler Monday morning. A man in a pickup apparently lost control, police said, crossed lanes, jumped a median, plowed through a yard, broke through a fence, crossed two more medians and slammed into the garage, pinning the elderly woman. She was pronounced dead on the scene. (Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal)

Calvin Hale, 62, has not been charged in the accident that killed Meihua Liu, 68. Vince Higgins, spokesman for the Shelby County District Attorney, said his office has not received a report from the Memphis Police Department. MPD spokesman Alyssa Macon-Moore said the case remains under administrative review as traffic investigators confer with the DA's office.

The victim's daughter, Qiu Hua Zhang, was escorting her mother's body back to China Wednesday. Reached at the Detroit airport, Zhang wasn't sure how to respond when told of Hale's past.

"I don't know. I don't know," she said, still distraught. "First of all, I don't know his history or his intentions. I have no information about him. I don't know what happened."

Based on a review of his arrest record, Hale has been charged with DUI three times: 1993, 1997 and 2000. He was also charged with reckless driving in each of those incidents. In 2002, he was sentenced to 45 days in jail for DUI. He has been charged with public drunkenness twice: 1984 and 1988. He was also arrested in March of this year, but that charge is not available and may have been expunged, officials said.

According to the MPD report, Hale was not tested for alcohol or drug use after the fatal accident, which happened about 7:30 a.m. on June 10 at a home in the 4100 block of Tutwiler. In the report, under "alcohol usage determined by," the officer wrote, "Observed." Macon-Moore would not say whether any tests were conducted later, citing the ongoing investigation.

Hale told police said he felt dizzy just before the accident, then lost control of the vehicle. He said he has no memory of the accident. A police investigator determined that Hale has a history of seizures and may have had one just before the crash.

The MPD report detailing the strange accident largely confirms what witnesses said at the scene.

Hale's 1998 Ford Ranchero pickup was heading east on Tutwiler when it veered out of control. It jumped a curb and plowed through a yard, missing at least three trees and a storm grate that could have slowed it down. It then tore through a split-rail fence and bounded over two more curbs before striking Liu, pinning her against a car in the garage.

She was holding her grandson, 6-month-old Kevin Ge, when struck by the car. The infant was thrown free. Zhang said Wednesday that the infant spent a week in the hospital, but has since been released. The family is hoping for a full recovery.

In an obituary published Wednesday, the victim's family said she was a physician in China. She and her husband were visiting to help care for the infant.